Farmers block streets in Paris to protest trade deal with South American countries

French farmers blocked roads leading to Paris and several city landmarks before dawn on January 8, protesting a major trade deal the European Union hopes to sign with South American countries and other domestic issues, Reuters reported.

Farmers from the large Coordination Rurale union called for the Paris action, fearing that a planned free trade deal with Mercosur, an economic union of South American countries, would flood the EU market with cheap food, and also because of the government’s handling of an outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

The farmers broke through police cordons, drove into the city, drove along the Champs-Élysées and blocked traffic around the Arc de Triomphe before dawn, while police surrounded them.

Dozens of tractors blocked motorways leading to the capital ahead of the morning rush hour, including the A13 from the western suburbs and Normandy, causing traffic jams totalling around 150km, the transport minister said.

They were later joined by farmers from the FNSEA and Young Farmers unions in a peaceful demonstration near the Eiffel Tower.

The protest is piling up pressure on President Emmanuel Macron and his government ahead of a vote by EU countries on a trade deal. Without a majority in parliament, any policy blunder by Macron could trigger a dangerous vote of no confidence.

A vote on the deal with Mercosur is due on Friday.

Mercosur, full name “Mercado Común del Sur” (“Common Market of the South”), is an economic and political union of South American countries, created in 1991 for the free movement of goods, services, capital and labor. Its core members are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia, as well as associate members such as Chile, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Suriname.

Tags: France, protests